Review: The Faint's fifth album is my personal favorite, which is no surprise, since it's a combination of the synth-dance pop they brought to perfection on Danse Macabre and the less danceable-but-probably-better experimentation of Wet From Birth. The basic foundation of their sound hasn't really changed much after their second album, but it has evolved considerably.

I don't know the first thing about how people actually make electronic music, but I can say that they introduce some damned interesting sounds here (the best being in "A Battle Hymn For Children", in which I'm certain I hear Raccoon Mario's tail-whoosing spin sound from Super Mario Bros. 3). They bring forth their usual audial bag of tricks, employing all kinds of machine beeps, clicks, whirs, and other sounds that I can only imagine must come from rough robot sex. Todd Fink's altered vocals are delivered in their typical robotic fashion, so nothing new there, but if you like them on previous albums, you'll like them just as well here.

Standout tracks are "Get Seduced", with its jerky guitars, "The Geeks Were Right", with its glimpse into the future of man-machine hybrids (and strong contender for the "best single they've ever released" title--yes, so very sorry, "Agenda Suicide"). "Psycho" has a catchy guitar riff that would almost be at home in a funk song. "Forever Growing Centipedes" has what sounds to me like a broken train crossing bell being piped into our universe from some Hell dimension. "A Battle Hymn For Children" is a fantastic anti-war song featuring the previously mentioned Raccoon Mario-sound, Geiger counter noises, and with keyboards that sound like wailing, mourning voices.

If you've never heard The Faint before, just imagine what a pixellated dance party taking place inside a malfunctioning Nintendo Entertainment System/Playstation hybrid that is screaming in pain might sound like and you have a pretty good idea of their sound. And then pick up Fasciinatiion, because it's as good an introduction as I can think of.

Overall rating: (Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)

Reader Comments

how dare you claim the geeks were right is better then agenda suicide? honestly im just glad to know other people know this album came out. ive been a fan for years and rarely do i meet anyone whos even heard of the faint, but even those who know of them had no idea they put a new album out. your taste in music is consistantly ballsmashingly stupendous.